Pages

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Overcoming errors when piecing a quilt

Yesterday was just one of those days in my sewing room! I started out working on another Double Slice quilt using another layer cake - Hyde Park. I was determined to make the correct cuts this time, but when I started making the second cut realized that either the 10 inch squares were badly out of square or (most likely) I had made a crooked cut on one stack of blocks. Unfortunately this caused several of my complete blocks to be completely out of shape.

The only way to correct this was to trim all of my blocks down to 9 inches. I didn't want to, but it was clear that if I didn't this top would never look right or be flat enough to quilt easily. So, I spent the time to trim them all done so they would go together like they should. When I started laying out the blocks, I ended up two short! I could have made my quilt a row shorter, but then I would have had four leftover blocks...so I found some fabric that would work and made two more blocks. I got it all laid out and rearranged until I was happy with the look - I really like the colors in this set!

I started sewing my rows together, then around the fourth one started having some problems...some of my blocks were rotated funny, then at the end of the row I had a leftover block. Whoops, I skipped one. No wonder the rest were rotated wrong!

Starting the fifth row, again, blocks rotated funny, then I ran out of bobbin thread and didn't realize it so everything got out of order. I looked back at the top of the row and yes, the top block in the fourth row had been sewn on rotated wrong. Out came the seam ripper, then back to the floor to rearrange...whew.

I got the last row sewn on fine, then sewed all my rows together to finish the top. I was about to put it away when I spotted the rest of the fabric I used for the extra blocks, one of which was a border print. Why not add it to the top to make it a nice large lap size? So I did, then used the rest of the fabrics to put together into a backing. Who says I needed to make a different top out of those fabrics? I have plenty of projects to keep me busy, so I killed two birds with one stone on this one!

I decided to go for one more try at the double slice - we'll see how that one comes out! And guess what? I found those two missing squares stuck to some batting strips. Oh well. I cut them into charm squares and added them to my stash!

Follow by Email

Follow this blog with bloglovin

Subscribe To

Small, Smaller, Smallest

About Me

Hi! I am Pamela Boatright. I've always wanted to be a writer, and love quilting so this is the space where I get to put both of my interests together! I also enjoy teaching and creating original projects, so this is a great place for sharing those. I hope you enjoy your visit here and are inspired to go create something beautiful and useful!